Week One Football Roundup: Rolla and St. James

Monday

Rolla football wins nailbiter against Glendale, St. James drops opener against Salem

The Rolla Bulldogs and St. James Tigers both played host in week one as Rolla was able to hang on for a 32-26 win against Glendale while St. James fell to a tough Salem team 32-6.

St. James vs. Salem

The battle of the Tigers was a fierce one.

Salem led 7-0 after the first quarter and added to tthe lead with another touchdown in the second quarter to give them a 14-0 lead going into halftime.

The Salem Tigers added 12 more points in the third quarter to increase their lead to 26. Both teams scored in the fourth quarter to make the final 32-6.

St. James senior quarterback Nick Halbrook threw for 110 yards. Halbrook also had 18 carries to lead the team with 124 yards on the ground. Logan Saxbury, Rustin Branum, and Chandler Tinsley had around 60 yards combined.

The Tigers of St. James had 122 yards receiving from Saxbury, Dakota Kurtti, Peyton Maylee and Logan Sparks. Maylee scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Maylee and Tinsley led the Tigers with seven tackles each. Levi Hutto tackled six Salem Tigers respectively and Branum and Halbrook had five total tackles in the game.

St. James coach Josh Rodriguez said there were one too many mistakes.

“We are a very young and inexperienced team and we made mistakes that cost us big opportunities to score and keep Salem out of the endzone,” he said.

But, as with any game, it was also an opportunity to learn.

“We came out mostly healthy and will use this game as a learning opportunity to improve,” Rodriguez added.

St. James will travel to Perryville for a 7 p.m. non conference game this Friday night.

Rolla vs. Glendale

Rolla’s game was a tale of two halves.

The Bulldogs had a big lead that led to an exciting end of the game after Glendale mounted a comeback. Fortunately for the home team, Rolla managed to defeat the Falcons 32-24 in the season-opening win.

The game began with both teams trading the ball back and forth during most of the first period. Rolla recovered a big fumble at the 4:40 mark when the Falcons quarterback had a bad exchange with the running back. It was not costly, though, as the Falcons got the ball back just a few minutes later after a Rolla punt. The Falcons took advantage and scored on a touchdown pass to Jack Clinkenbeard and were able to get the 2-point conversion to gain an early 8-0 lead.

In the second quarter the Bulldogs recovered a fumble by Darius Facen to give them possession with 11:40 in the first half remaining. The Bulldogs had a run go into the endzone, but if was called back due to a penalty.

Rolla was faced with a 4th-and-4 just 15 yards from the endzone and powered through it with a short run to keep the drive alive. With 6:43 to go, the Bulldogs once again made their way across the line on a short touchdown run by Colton Franks. The 2-point conversion failed as the Falcons held back the offensive line.

However, Rolla would get the ball back less than two minutes later and take the lead thanks to a 30-yard pass from Jack Hounsom. The ensuing 2-point conversion was good to give the Bulldogs a 14-8 lead in the contest.

Rolla managed to get the ball back just a minute later with 1:45 left in the half off of an interception by the defense. The Bulldogs made their way 50 yards down field to earn a 1st-and-goal with 1.5 seconds on the clock. Rolla ran in the score to increase their lead to 22-8 after the conversion.

The second half of the game was another strong one. Rolla began the half off by intercepting a Falcon pass just 40 seconds in. They ran in for a short touchdown to grab a 29-8 advantage.

The Falcons did not give up, though, as they scored with 8:13 left in the third quarter on a pass to Davin Pope that cut the Bulldog ead to 29-16. The score would remain the same through the end of the period.

The Bulldogs made a 29-yard field goal to extend the lead to 32-16 around the start of the final period. Glendale answered with a 6-yard touchdown pass with 10:22 in the game. Another 2-point conversion cut the Rolla lead to one score.

The Bulldogs would have an impressive 60-plus yard drive that lasted from the 10:22 mark all the way until 51 seconds were left in the game. The Bulldogs made three 4th-and-1 conversions to keep the drive alive at the 8:03, 6:03, and 3:27 point of the fourth quarter.

But the Falcons recovered a fumble by Rolla and drive 70 yards down field to have three shots at the end zone. They completed a pass to the corner of the end zone, but it was ruled out of bounds. The Falcons failed to connect with one last shot and Rolla walked away with the win.

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